Zero-resetting mechanism for adding-machines.



PATENTED DEC. 1, 1903.

No. 745,543. I

0. WALES. ZERO RESBTTING MECHANISM FOR ADDING MAGHINES.'

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 24. 1903.-

2 SHEET8-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

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' inoowto-n MWM MW K M No. 745,543. PATENTED DEC. 1, 1903.

C. WALES.

ZERO RESETTING MECHANISM FOR ADDING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24. 1903. I 'xo MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 8 macwtox Zwa-W R- M UNITED STATES.

Patented December 1, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES ALES, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 745,543, dated December1, 1903.

Application filed March 24, 1903.

T0 on whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES WALEs, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Detroit, in the county of lVayne and State of Michigan,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Zero-ResettingMechanisms for Adding-Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to adding-machines adapted to be operated by keysbearing numerals and provided with a sight-register for displaying theresult of the calculation, and more particularly to that part of themechanism designed to effect the resetting of the numeral-wheels totheir normal positions, in which they display the zero ready for thenext operation.

I have already described and claimed the general features of the machinein which the particular mechanism herein described and claimed forms apart in a copendin g applica tion filed by me on the 12th day ofSeptember, 1902, Serial No. 123,133, and refer to that application for amore particular description of the general mechanism involved.

In the drawings, in which the same reference-numerals refer to the sameparts in all the figures, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of atrain of mechanism for one section of the machine and some of theadjacent parts with certain portions broken away. Fig. 2 is an enlargedend view of the zero-resetting mechanism with the thumb-wheel cut off toexpose the other parts. Fig.3 is a similar view of the same parts inanother position. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the same parts in a thirdposition. Fig. 5 is a view in front elevation of the numeral-bearingwheels and shaft, showing also the end portions of the zero resettingmechanism, the parts being drawn to a smaller scale than the threepreceding figures. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view in perspective ofthe zero-resetting rake, its shaft, and their connecting mechanism.

Like reference characters mark the same parts in all of the figures ofthe drawings.

The machine has a keyboard and key-levers which will remain in eitherone of their two positions until removed therefrom by an impulsereceived from the operator through the keys or other parts of themachine. These Serial No. 1 19.315. (110 modelfl levers operate a seriesof stops and interpose them into the path of the racks, which determinethe rotation of the numeral-wheels, the position of the particular stopthus interposed determining the extent of the wheels rotation, andconsequently the particular numeral 011 the periphery of the wheel inview when the rotation is checked. The numeral on the key corresponds tothe number displayed when the wheel comes to a standstill. Astop-androlease plate is employed, which holds the racks until themember desired to be added has been written on the keyboard. The racksare returned to their original positions through the actions of a mainoperating-lever, which simultaneously rotates the numeral wheelscommunicating with the racks which have been displaced. The wheels arereturned to zero by means of a rake, which has a rotary motion parallelto the wheels and which ongages pins thereon, this zero-resettingmechanism forming the subject-matter of the present application. Thesepins set the carrying mechanism, which when one wheel passes the numeralE) causes the next wheel to be moved one step or number.

Most of the working parts of the machine are held at rest by springswhich immediately return them to their normal position after eachoperation.

The frame of the machine is supported upon a rectangular base plate 25,having studs 21 at its corners to hold in position a suitable casin g23. Uprights 26 on either side are provided with forward arms 27 andbackward arms 28 at their upper parts, the former being connected to thecenter of the upright by a brace 20, which connects with a short arm 30.Another short arm 31 extends backward from the upright opposite the arm30. These parts are preferably made intogral and stamped out of onepiece of metal. The duplicate sides of the frame thus constructed areconnected by a series of hori zontal bars, including those designated bythe reference-numerals 33 to 41, inclusive, running through the machineand fixed at their ends to the said pieces of the frame.

Posts 32, one at each side of the base-plate at the forward end thereof,have a shaft 42 rotatably mounted therein, and to this shaft anoperating-crank 50 and two short arms 51 are keyed. The crank 50 isprovided with an ordinary handle, by which it is drawn forward tooperate the machine. It is restricted in its forward movement by asuitable stop and is held normally in its backward position againstanother suitable stop by a tension-spring 55, connected to the right arm51 through a link 56, said stops and handle being located on the outsideof the case and not shown herein. The crank in its oscillationsdescribes an are slightly less than ninety degrees, and the manner inwhich the machine is operated through these oscillations will behereinafter described.

The keyboard, levers, and stops are made separable from the other partsof the machine and may be removed from the machine and replaced withoutdisturbing the same in any way. The construction by which this end isaccomplished consists of. a series of plates (50, one for each row ofkeys, and levers which are mounted thereon. The plates are in turn hungfrom the top inclined cover at by means of brackets t5, fixed to saidcover. The cover 44: rests its upper edge on the arms 27 at either sideand is joined to a front end piece 46, which supports it at its lowerend. The cover also has suitable perforations for key-rods 68. The upperends of the stopbars 67 pass through slots in a plate &7, having athickened portion 49 supported from the cover by brackets 43 at eachside. The top cover, therefore, carries with it the entire set of keys,key-levers, and stops.

Each key-lever 63 has a vertical stop-rod 67 on its inner end, the rodsconnected with each row of keys and levers being alined in substantiallythe same plane therewith. The levers are made of unequal length tosecure the proper spacing of the rods and keys. The stop-rods G7 are ofgraduated lengths, so that their upper ends will be normally in the sameplane, and upon them resetting-dogs 70 impinge. One of these dogs 70 isprovided for each row of stops and serves the double purpose of checkingthe movement of the rack to which it is opposed and of returning thedisplaced stop and key to their original positions after an operation orwhen acted upon by the key-resetting mechanism.

Reciprocating rack-bars 71 are supported upon the upper ends of rockingarms 7 3 and levers 7 t, which are mounted upon the horizontal bars and34, respectively. A tensionspring 7 5 is secured to the arm 7 3 aboveits pivot and to the lever 7-t below its pivot, so that the said spring75 has a tendency to throw the upper ends of said parts and the rack-baritself forward. Each rack-bar 71 is held in its backward position by areleaseplate 80, which engages a notch 7 6 in the upper edge thereof.Its forward movement is still further restrained by the dog 70, whichlies normally in its path. The plate rocks upon a bar 83, mounted in theside frames, and has an arm 81 extending from one end through a lip 21,which forms the rear end of the front section .22 of the cover, bypressing which arm the plate may be released from engagement with therack-bars. A resetting-plate 82, extending in the opposite direction, isalso mounted on the bar 83.

The rack-bars 71 are provided with racks 77, which are constantly inmesh with pinions 7 S, which are rotatably mounted on. the wheelshaft01. These racks are curved to compensate for the digression of therack-ban- 71. from the horizontal in its movements, the curve being thereverse of the are described by the arm 73 and lever 74.

The p'inions 7 8 move independently of the numeral-wheels and carry withthem seetors 7 9. A pawl 88, with. a spring 80, is mounted upon eachsector. The numeral-wheels on, with their respective pinions, areseparated and held in their longitudinal positions on the shaft 01 bysmall collars 92.

Each one of the wheels 90 has a ratchetwheel (not shown) fixed thereto,which is engaged by a pawl 88, so that when the pinion 7S and its pawl88 are rotated by the backward movement of the rack 77 the pawl willengage the ratchet 9E and rotate it in proportion to the extent of thebackward movement of the rack, which movement is equal to its forwardmovement as determined by the particular stop interposed in its path.The backward movement of the rack is accomplished by the forwardmovement of the operatingcrank 50 and arm 51, which draws forward. therods 58, secured to said arms, and the cross-bar 57 extendin g acrossthe machine and. secured at its ends to the rear ends of the rods 58. Asthe bar 57 moves forward it will carry with it any of the lower ends ofthe levers Tl which may be back of their normal positions. It will beseen that this movement of the levers 7t causes the backward movement ofthe racks 77 and the consequent rotation of the wheels 90. The rod 57 issupported by swinging arms 5!), depending from the bar 34:, and isreturned to its original position after a forward movement by theretraction of the spring 55.

Correcting-keys 110 are mounted in the top plate 22 of the casing of themachine and are provided for each longitudinal train of numeral keys andstops. keys 110 impinge upon the dogs 70 when depressed and will returnany stop-bar (37 in its respective row which may have been moved to itsnormal position without affecting any of the other rows of bars. In thismanner when a key is erroneously struck it may be easily replaced bystriking the correcting-key at the head of its row.

A series of friction-wheels 115, one for each of the numeral-wheels 90,mounted upon the ends of small levers 116, which in turn are pivotallymounted on the bar 38, are held in contact with teeth 9% on theperiphery of the wheels 90 by tension-springs 117, secured to the bar41. These wheels enter between the The rods 1'11 of the' teeth 94 as thewheel 90 rotates and check the rotation of the latter when the impulsefrom the moving mechanism is withdrawn.

The zero-resetting mechanism comprises two plates 120, one located oneach end of the shaft 91. These plates haveelliptical slots 121, thefocal diameters of which are horizontal, and through these slots 'theshaft 01 passes. Radial pins 121 are secured one near each end of theshaft 91 and extend through small recesses 123 in flanges 122 011 theupper edge of the plate 120. ends of the pin 1% are each connected withthe forward parts of the plates 120 by tensionsprings 125. A rake,consisting of a fingerbar 126 and fingers 127, extends from the rearedge of one plate 120 to that of the other similar plate 120 and isnormally removed a sufficient distance from the wheels to allow the pins97, which project laterally in pairs from the wheels 90, to escape thefingers 127. These pins 97 are diametricallyopposite each other,beingin. juxtaposition to the live marks on the periphery of the wheel.The rake is operated by means of a finger-wheel 12$),which is keyed toone end of the shaft 91 and rotates it within the collars 92 and thewheels 00, mounted thereon. \Vhen the shaft 91 starts its rotation, theradial pins 121 engaging the recess 123 of the flange 122 will firstthrow the plate 120 forward until the shaft has passed to the oppositeor rear end of the slots 121, the plate 120 maintaining the samehorizontal position. This movement brings the fingers 127 within theradius of the pins 97. The further rotation of the shaft will then causethe rake to pass over the numeralwheels; but the fingers projectingbetween them will carry with them any of the pins 97 which are out oftheir normal positions, ro tating the respective wheels to which theybelong until the zero-marks are alined on a rule hinged on a transversebar 167, when the forward rotation of the rake is checked by contact ofthe plate 120 with the pins 128, projecting inwardly from the frame ofthe machine. The rake is then returned to its normal position, itsflanges 122 resting upon stops secured to the frame of the machine. Thisreturn is accomplished by a rack on a bar 72,1nountcd between the eighthand ninth wheels and engaging a pinion 98, which is fixed to the shaft91. The *ack-bar 72 is the same in size and shape as the rack-bars 71,

. shaft 01.

The free and the pinion 08 is similar in construction to the otherpinions 78, but is fixed to the The rack-bar 72 is held normally in itsforward position by a spring 84, stretched from its forward end to oneof the studs 2i.

The pins 97 also serve to set in operation the carrying mechanism whichacts to move each wheel one step or number when the next wheel to theright passes the numeral 9.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination of a shaft, registering wheels loose thereon, lateralpins 011 the wheels, a rake supported on the shaft having lateralfingers projecting in the planes of the pins but normally out of theirpaths of movement, and springs connecting the rake and the shaft foractuating the rake-fingers into said paths and rotating the rake by therotation of the shaft.

2. The combination of a shaft, registeringwheels loose thereon, lateralprojections on said wheels, a rake mounted on the shaft havin g lateralfingers projecting in the planes of said projections, and springsactuated by the rotation of the shaft for rotating the rake.

The combination of a shaft, registeringwheels loose thereon, lateralprojections on the wheels, plates loosely mounted on the shafts outsidethe wheels, radial arms secured to the shaft and engaging the plates, arakebar connecting the plates, springs connecting the arms and platesand fingers projecting inward from the rake-bar in the planes of theprojections.

45. The combination of two plates having elongated slots and recessedflanges, a shaft engaging in said slots, registering-wheels loose 011the shaft between the plates, lateral projections on said wheels, arake-bar connecting the plates at one end, fingers projecting from therake-bar in the planes of said projections, radial arms on the shaftpassing through the recesses of the flanges, and springs connecting theopposite ends of the plates with the radial arms.

itness my hand this 17th day of March, 1903, at the city of Detroit, inthe county of \Vayne and State of lllichigan.

CHARLES \VALES.

\Vitnesses:

War. V. BUTLER, WM. L. JANUARY.

